Saturday, August 20, 2016

Grainfather Specifications for BeerSmith, Beer Tools Pro, and Other Software

Recently, I've been trying to "dial in" settings in BeerSmith and Beer Tools Pro so that I can do a better job getting my actual brewing results to match up to the figures in the software. Below are some of the figures I've worked out with my US Grainfather. Given manufacturing variances and possible measuring errors on my part, these might not match exactly to yours, but hopefully they're close enough that it will help you.

BeerSmith Equipment Profile:

Brewhouse Efficiency: 83% (based on my experience, yours may vary)

Mash Tun Volume: 8 gallons

Mash Tun Weight: 8.82 pounds

Mash Tun Specific Heat: 0.12 Cal/gram-deg C

Mash Tun Addition: 0 gallons

Lauter Tun Losses: 0 gallons

Top Up Water for Kettle: 0 gallons

Boil Volume: 6.25 gallons

Boil Time: 60 minutes

Boil Off: 0.40 gallons per hour

Cooling Shrinkage: 6%

Loss to Trub and Chiller: 0.53 gallons

Batch Volume: 5 gallons

Fermenter Loss: 0.40 gallons (yours may vary)

Whirlpool time: 0 minutes

Beer Tools Pro Vessel Profile:

Shape: Circular/Elliptical

Width: 12 inches

Length: 12 inches

Height: 17 inches

Capacity: 8.3 gallons

Heat Capacity: 1020.5 J/K

Dead Space; 0.5 gallons

Heat Transfer Coefficient: 5.51 W/m2 K

Environment: 68.5F

Infusion Volume: 5.0 gallons

Infusion Temp: 148F

Temp After 5 minutes: 147F

Temp After 65 Minutes: 137F

Beer Tools Pro Heat Source Profile:

Environment: 68.7F

Calibration Volume: 5 gallons

Vessel Heat Capacity: 502.8 J/K

Time to Heat 18F (10C): 10.5 minutes

If, as I do, you use hops bags to keep particulate out of the kettle, you may want to factor in adding about 10% additional hops to account for possible losses due to the bag.